Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ellis Raymond. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ellis, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is measured by the outcome of hard work and dedication. It varies for each individual based on the vision they have for their business. In my opinion, it takes extreme dedication to end up successful in any venture. It almost takes a slight obsession forming with your business, idea, project, or whatever it is you are working on. When we first opened our swim school, I was here as much as possible to drive the business forward. Being a leader in an organization is extremely important to help shape how your business will grow and develop. Leading by example and putting in the work is what I think drove JMSS to the success it is today. Also, being able to admit when your company can make changes for the better of both the team and the customer is extremely important to finding success.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Growing up, I was always around aquatics due to my father being an Olympic gold medal swimmer. He has always been very plugged in to the aquatic community and my love of being in and around the water came naturally to me. In High School, I started lifeguarding at a local pool and one day was asked to assist with swim lessons there. I instantly fell in love with teaching and getting to make such a big impact in my student’s lives. After graduating college, my dad and I opened up our swim school in the Dallas community and we have never looked back. It was natural to use his knowledge of the sport and my knowledge of teaching and early childhood development to create an amazing facility for all ages and abilities to learn to swim. Our family owned swim school opened its doors in January 2016 and through the amazing community around us we have grown exponentially. Our brand is based around Jim Montgomery, my father, who won three gold medals in the 1976 Olympic games. Jim has been a huge driving force in making this business the true success that it is and being able to work with him is incredible. We teach babies, kids, pre-teens, adults and even have a masters swim team that practices at various high schools in the area. We love our customers and our team so much, I feel that it really shines through when you walk in the door here at JMSS. We are happy to see our swimmers return week after week and our team is like a small family that always has each others backs. I am so proud of the essence of this business and all that it stands for.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The reputation of JMSS is extremely important to us and we always want each customer who walks through our doors to feel valued. We aim to provide the best swim lesson experience for all and to provide a valuable service to each and every one of our clients. One of our core values we teach our team from day one is “All things with kindness”. We firmly believe that kindness is free and that there should be more of it in our world. We are known for how we take care of our customers and treat them as if they are a part of our JMSS family. We also are very good at adapting and taking a hard look at anything we feel could change or be done better. Any good business should be open to change and keep an open mind instead of always being on the defense with customers. A good friend taught me, “change is hard but change is good” and that motto has kept us growing and adapting as the years go on.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I feel very strongly that a business is only as good as its weakest team member. That does not mean that the weakest team member is a “bad” team member, but that there are things they could improve upon. If you are in charge of managing a team you should be checking on their performance within the business and if you notice anything that can be better it is your responsibility to work with them to grow them as an employee. If you let something continue that does not better your business then it was not your team member that failed but yourself as a manager. I try to make sure my team knows how much I appreciate them every chance I get. It can be a message in the team group chat, cookies you brought to work, shout outs during a team meeting or even recognizing employee work anniversaries that makes them feel valued. I believe that both showing someone you appreciate them and telling someone you appreciate them goes a long way and you get a very good return on your investment. As a manager you should also always lead by example within your business or organization. The best managers are out there with their team doing everything from the easy and fun work to the hard and not so fun work. Whether that is sweeping up a mess a client made or talking to an angry customer to assist your team, it goes a long way to show how much you care by being present.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jmswim.com
• Instagram: @jmswimschool
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jmswimming
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jim-montgomery-swim-school-dallas

Image Credits
Danny Fulgencio, Omer Rana -Studiorange Photography